Part 7.7—Forgery and related offences
Division 143—Preliminary
143.1 Definitions
(1) In this Part:
document includes:
(a) any paper or other material on which there is writing; or
(b) any paper or other material on which there are marks, figures, symbols or perforations that are:
(i) capable of being given a meaning by persons qualified to interpret them; or
(ii) capable of being responded to by a computer, a machine or an electronic device; or
(c) any article or material (for example, a disk or a tape) from which information is capable of being reproduced with or without the aid of any other article or device.
false Commonwealth document has the meaning given by section 143.3.
false document has the meaning given by section 143.2.
information means information, whether in the form of data, text, sounds, images or in any other form.
(2) The following are examples of things covered by the definition of document in subsection (1):
(a) a credit card;
(b) a debit card;
(c) a card by means of which property can be obtained.
143.2 False documents
(1) For the purposes of this Part, a document is a false document if, and only if:
(a) the document, or any part of the document:
(i) purports to have been made in the form in which it is made by a person who did not make it in that form; or
(ii) purports to have been made in the form in which it is made on the authority of a person who did not authorise its making in that form; or
(b) the document, or any part of the document:
(i) purports to have been made in the terms in which it is made by a person who did not make it in those terms; or
(ii) purports to have been made in the terms in which it is made on the authority of a person who did not authorise its making in those terms; or
(c) the document, or any part of the document:
(i) purports to have been altered in any respect by a person who did not alter it in that respect; or
(ii) purports to have been altered in any respect on the authority of a person who did not authorise its alteration in that respect; or
(d) the document, or any part of the document:
(i) purports to have been made or altered by a person who did not exist; or
(ii) purports to have been made or altered on the authority of a person who did not exist; or
(e) the document, or any part of the document, purports to have been made or altered on a date on which, at a time at which, at a place at which, or otherwise in circumstances in which, it was not made or altered.
(2) For the purposes of this Part, a person is taken to make a false document if the person alters a document so as to make it a false document (whether or not it was already a false document before the alteration).
(3) This section has effect as if a document that purports to be a true copy of another document were the original document.
143.3 False Commonwealth documents
(1) For the purposes of this Part, a document is a false Commonwealth document if, and only if:
(a) the document, or any part of the document:
(i) purports to have been made in the form in which it is made by a Commonwealth entity, or a Commonwealth public official, who did not make it in that form; or
(ii) purports to have been made in the form in which it is made on the authority of a Commonwealth entity, or a Commonwealth public official, who did not authorise its making in that form; or
(b) the document, or any part of the document:
(i) purports to have been made in the terms in which it is made by a Commonwealth entity, or a Commonwealth public official, who did not make it in those terms; or
(ii) purports to have been made in the terms in which it is made on the authority of a Commonwealth entity, or a Commonwealth public official, who did not authorise its making in those terms; or
(c) the document, or any part of the document:
(i) purports to have been altered in any respect by a Commonwealth entity, or a Commonwealth public official, who did not alter it in that respect; or
(ii) purports to have been altered in any respect on the authority of a Commonwealth entity, or a Commonwealth public official, who did not authorise its alteration in that respect; or
(d) the document, or any part of the document:
(i) purports to have been made or altered by a Commonwealth entity, or a Commonwealth public official, who did not exist; or
(ii) purports to have been made or altered on the authority of a Commonwealth entity, or a Commonwealth public official, who did not exist; or